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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26324095">Takeout Taxi</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenSomeday/pseuds/BenSomeday'>BenSomeday</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BB8 is a Moped, Battle of the Idiots, CEO Ben Solo, Delivery Woman Rey, F/M, Lousy Tippers, Resolved Sexual Tension, Salty Soup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:20:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26324095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenSomeday/pseuds/BenSomeday</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey glanced down at the rest of the list, adding it up in her head. Twenty-eight dollars and six cents in tips from other people and then this...Hand shaking, Rey tapped the line and the receipt sprang up on her screen. She sucked in a lungful of air, white-hot anger coursing through her.</p><p>That bastard!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Numerous OTPS Infinite Fandoms</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Takeout Taxi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am still working on the next story in the Twisted Time-Travel AU but I have had several other smaller stories harassing my brain and thought I'd try to get one out there to clear up some space.</p><p>Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That’ll be fourteen fifty-three,” Rey said, flashing a bright smile as she handed over the bag.</p><p> </p><p>“Here you go, uh, keep the change,” the middle-aged woman said, shoving a wad of bills into Rey’s hand before slamming the door in her face.</p><p> </p><p>Rey looked down. A ten and five ones. Great.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, thank you so much kind lady,” Rey muttered, smile dropping as she turned away from the brownstone and loped down the steps back toward the street. “A whole forty-seven cents! Why, I just might buy myself something pretty with all my new wealth!”</p><p> </p><p>Rey huffed and stuffed the money into her bank bag before locking it back in the small compartment on her moped. She pulled on her battered helmet and slung her long, khaki encased leg over the seat, settling into it. The orange and white moped, affectionately named BB, rumbled to life and Rey hit the kickstand with her heel before peeling out into traffic, heading toward her next delivery.</p><p> </p><p>Choosing to focus on the positives while she wove through the streets toward downtown Chandrila, Rey reminded herself that not only was BB not a gas guzzler but she was lucky that the delivery company she contracted with actually paid the drivers a small percentage of the delivery fee to help cover fuel. If they hadn’t, she would probably be losing money on a lot of her deliveries. Especially since tips like the one she just received were the rule, rather than the exception.</p><p> </p><p>Four minutes later, Rey puttered to a stop in front of Kiki’s, knowing that if she didn’t refill her water bottle now she might not find another place to do it later. At least, not somewhere she could do it for free. She still had five more deliveries to make within the next forty minutes and the clock was ticking. She jumped up, running inside the little bodega with a quick wave to Glenda who sat at the front counter, looking as wrinkled and as bored as ever. Rey skidded to a stop in front of the water fountain near the restrooms, filled her bottle, then ran back out to BB, thankful it hadn’t been stolen in the few moments she was inside. She retook her seat, stowed her bottle in the makeshift cup holder and checked her mirror. Seeing a clearing, she pushed forward and rejoined the line of vehicles marching down Oasis Sands Avenue.</p><p> </p><p>Thinking back on her earlier musings, Rey sighed to herself. She got it, she did. The economy was in a downturn right now, money was tight for a lot of people and with the gig economy taking over, there weren’t many who had extra money burning holes in their pockets. Still, Rey had always held to the philosophy that if you couldn’t afford to give a reasonably decent tip, you couldn’t afford to eat out. But then, it always seemed like the ones who tipped the worst were also the ones who seemed to actually have money to spare.</p><p> </p><p>“The bigger the bank account, the worse the tipper,” Finn always said.</p><p> </p><p>From Rey’s experience, he didn’t seem to be wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“Watch it, ass!”</p><p> </p><p>Rey turned to see an old guy in a beat up Tantive IV hanging his head out the window while shaking his fist at the bicyclist that had sped in front of him. Rey snorted. The light was red and the cyclist had the right-of-way, regardless of the fact that Tantive IV guy was waiting to turn right. Damn auto drivers, always thought they owned the road and never gave any consideration or leeway to smaller vehicles.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hooooonkkkkk!!!!! </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Rey cringed. Vehicles like hers. She flipped the middle to the car behind her and put petal to the metal on BB, the light having just turned green. Shifting lanes, Rey turned left at the next light and kept one eye on her GPS, the other on the road. Her helmet and the wind made it impossible to hear the directions that the tinny voice on Cruiser Maps bleated out and she had to make sure she didn’t miss her stop. Seeing the little green dot that marked her location come upon the little blue dot that designated her destination, Rey swung sharply to the right and slipped into the only free parking space available. Another car honked at her but she ignored it.</p><p> </p><p>“Right,” she muttered, “207B, Junari Point Lofts, Ree-Yees Greek Palace, oof,” Rey stumbled while reaching into the hot box to pull out the order, cursing herself for not arranging her deliveries in order of stop like she usually did. She sifted through the bags and boxes and gave a sigh of relief when her hand fell on the red and white bag that marked the Gyro place on 9th and Cocko. She hoped that this customer would be quick about paying...and a decent tipper.</p><p> </p><p>Twenty-five minutes later and Rey was on her second-to-last stop for the lunch run. She sighed when she looked at the company app and recognized the name. B. Solo. Joy.</p><p> </p><p>Rey had never met the man. Kriff, she had never even seen him. But she knew she didn’t like him on principle. CEO of the single largest astro-tech corporation in the country, B. Solo apparently only knew how to tip in one way. At least, that was what Rey figured. She doubted his assistant, sweet little Mitaka, was the one that made the decision to tip her three dollars on every single delivery, no matter the cost or how much he had ordered. Rey delivered a sandwich from Maz’s? Three dollar tip. She delivered two three-courses from that stupidly expensive Italian place on the Plaza? Three dollar tip. And while three dollars was definitely better than average, whoever B. Solo was, he was the single wealthiest man in the city and his idea of a good tip was three measly dollars.</p><p> </p><p>No, Rey definitely did not like him.</p><p> </p><p>Standing in the ludicrously decadent elevator that she was taking to the top floor of Force Enterprises, Rey took a deep breath. She had fifteen minutes to complete these last two deliveries and then she was home free for almost two hours. Though she desperately wanted both a nap and a shower before she had to clock in at her job in the garage, Rey knew she would only have time for one. Since she would only get gross again as she worked on the cars and motorcycles, Rey was definitely going to opt for the nap.</p><p> </p><p>The elevator dinged and Rey stepped off. She moved expertly past the board rooms and other executive offices before coming out of the corridor and into the open space that marked the beginning of the CEO’s territory. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Mita...ka?” Rey stopped, her words stuttering as she took in the room. “Mitaka?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey looked around. Instead of Mitaka, with his overly gelled bowl cut and nervous smile, Rey saw an empty desk and no signs of the personal assistant anywhere. She shuffled her feet, unsure of what to do. Rey always dealt with Mitaka. <em> Always </em>. She came in, gave the guy a smile and a hello, set the food on his desk and handed him the card reader. He would swipe his company card, mark the tip, sign it and hand it back with a “Have a pleasant day, Rey”. </p><p> </p><p>But he wasn’t there.</p><p> </p><p>Rey bit her lip, glancing at her wristwatch. Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo looked back at her, mocking her with the time. Rey may not like B. Solo but his deliveries rarely took more than a couple of minutes, thanks to Mitaka’s friendly efficiency. Rey shuffled her feet again, wondering what she was supposed to do now. She couldn’t wait on Mitaka to get back from wherever he had disappeared to; she didn’t have time. If she was late with her last delivery, it would be free to the customer and the money would come out of her earnings. But then, she couldn’t exactly deliver the food directly to Mr. Solo, either. That would be the fastest way to ensure she received a complaint and a negative mark on her delivery record.</p><p> </p><p><em> Kriff </em>. Rey slapped her hand down against her thigh in aggravation, cringing when one of the buttons on her watch hit her leg and the voice of Michelangelo rang out with an enthusiastic, “Cowabunga Dude!” Taking it as a sign, an incredibly juvenile sign, Rey huffed and walked forward, toward the doors to Mr. Solo’s office. She brushed her free hand over her black Takeout Taxi polo and then ran it over her hair, hoping her buns were still in some semblance of order. Reaching the overly large mahogany doors, Rey took a deep breath and knocked. She shuffled back a step and waited.</p><p> </p><p>And waited.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing her eyes, she reached forward and knocked again. Still no answer. Finally, aggravated and needing to get out of there and on to her last delivery, Rey reached for the ornate brass handle on one of the doors, turned it, and pushed. The scents of wood, leather, coffee and vanilla assaulted her senses. Blinking in surprise, Rey stepped through the door and into the office. A quick glance around confirmed her suspicions. B. Solo had more money than God. Rich leather club chairs, plush antique rugs and solid, carved bookcases took up one side of the large office, all flanking a perfectly preserved and obviously original art-deco style fireplace. A fireplace that was lit. In the middle of the hottest month of the year.</p><p> </p><p>Damn rich people.</p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the office were nothing but gorgeous, floor-to-ceiling windows, two of which were actually doors that led out to a large balcony. Rey squinted against the sunlight coming in through the deep grey, velvet curtains. Yup, those were gargoyles on the man’s balcony railing.</p><p> </p><p>Seriously, what the actual?</p><p> </p><p>“I do not recall asking you if it could be done, I recall ordering you to make it happen” a deep, rich voice caught Rey’s attention and she turned quickly on her heel.</p><p> </p><p>Oh.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, bloody hell.</p><p> </p><p>Rey closed her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them, she very nearly cursed out loud. If this man was B. Solo, she would very much like to hurl herself from the ludicrously ostentatious balcony less than twelve feet away. Because of course, <em> of course </em>, he was attractive. Of course he was, hands down, the sexiest man Rey had ever laid eyes on.</p><p> </p><p>Of course he was.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll have to call you back, Phasma,” the man said into the phone he held up to his ear, eyes locked on Rey. She shivered at the weight of it. “Can I help you, miss…”</p><p> </p><p>Rey startled.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, um, yes, sorry,” she cringed. She knew she was making an ass out of herself. “Um, I’m Rey, from Takeout Taxi, um, with your lunch delivery.”</p><p> </p><p>Mr. Solo looked at her for a moment, considering, then glanced over her shoulder, likely wondering how she had gotten in and where Mitaka was.</p><p> </p><p>“He, uh,” Rey waved her hand in the direction of the door, outside which sat Mitaka’s desk. “Mitaka wasn’t there, when I arrived so…”</p><p> </p><p>“So you decided your inability to wait a few moments for his return was more important than my time?” Mr. Solo interrupted.</p><p> </p><p>Rey saw red. Actually, for a few seconds, she didn’t see anything at all, blinded as she was by the fury that swept through her. Moving forward quickly, Rey slammed the bag she was carrying onto the unfairly impressive desk and rounded on him, not caring if his stupid French Dip Hoagie, extra onion, got stupidly smashed all over his stupid desk. She poked a finger into his chest, unable to help noticing, even with that small touch, how soft the fabric of his suit was.</p><p> </p><p>Rey shook the thought away, pleased with the way Solo’s eyes widened and how his cheeks flushed. Good, she wanted him to get angry because she was <em> pissed </em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Now you listen here you stuffed-shirt tosser,” Rey glared at him, chest heaving, giddy in her wrath as she watched him mouth the last few words back at her in astonishment, “I have exactly,” she glanced at her watch, flushing when Solo raised an eyebrow at the cheap plastic Ninja Turtle timepiece she had scavaged out of the dollar bin at Goodwill. “Nine minutes to make it to my last delivery and if I am even a little, tiny bit late, I have to pay for...that...order…” Rey trailed off, eyes widening in panic as she recalled the two large bags still sitting in the hot box, three styrofoam takeout containers in each one.</p><p> </p><p>She reeled back, snatching her phone from her back pocket and pulling up the delivery app. She whimpered in horror.</p><p> </p><p>“Seventy-seven dollars,” she whispered, hating the fact that she could feel the burn of tears gathering behind her eyes. All plans to purchase something other than Ramen and peanut butter at the grocery that week vanished. She felt weak.</p><p> </p><p>Rey let her head fall forward. Unfortunately, she was still close enough to Solo that her forehead hit his chest and she immediately jumped back as though she had been burned. Her anger returned ten-fold and she hissed at him.</p><p> </p><p>“I may not be worth millions of dollars but my time is just as valuable and important as yours and I can guarantee you, money has more value to me than it will ever have to someone like you.”</p><p> </p><p>Solo was watching her, head tilted. His dark, lush locks brushed teasingly across his brow and Rey bit her lip, hating that it made him look rakish and charming. Solo hmmed at her and moved away toward his desk. He pulled open a drawer and retrieved what appeared to be a large binder. He opened it and Rey was greeted with the sight of several credit cards tucked neatly into clear plastic sheets. Not looking at her, Solo raised a hand, beckoning at her as he pulled one of the cards from the binder.</p><p> </p><p>Rey rushed forward, card reader in hand and held it out to him. Solo slid his card, marked the tip area after a moment’s hesitation and signed the screen with a flourish before handing it back to her. Rey was unable to take her eyes off of him. Something about him captivated her and she felt herself grow warm. They stared at one another for a few more moments and then Solo cleared his throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Eight minutes and twenty-two seconds,” he said softly and Rey jumped.</p><p> </p><p>She shoved the card reader back into her fanny pack, not bothering to look at the screen. One foot shifted back, then the other. With one final look into B. Solo’s eyes, she turned and fled the office, wondering what in the kriff had just happened.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey dumped her fanny pack, helmet and keys on the rickety little table she kept by the door, rolled BB into his nook that was, at one time, a coat closet, and collapsed on the sofa. The old piece of furniture groaned back at her. Rey sighed. She had two hours, two blissful hours until she had to clock in at Plutt’s, and she intended to enjoy all ninety minutes she had to take a nap. She only needed ten minutes to freshen up and change into her coveralls and then she’d catch the 3:40 train to the warehouse district down by the docks. The last five minutes were a run from the station to her boss’s rundown little shop on the edge of the river.</p><p> </p><p>Rey hated working for Plutt. He paid her practically nothing, even though she was the most knowledgeable mechanic he had, and he only got away with it because he paid her under the table. While Rey appreciated having cash, and not having to pay taxes on the meager addition to her income, she hated that she always felt like she was giving herself and her talent away.</p><p> </p><p>Rey glanced at the faded, peeling poster on her wall as she relaxed back onto the sofa, swinging her legs up and tucking her hands under her head. A scene of a garage, complete with shiny tools and sparkling vehicles, stared back at her, the words ‘<em> Binks Motor Oil! We’s-a the Best-a! </em>’ scrawled across the bottom of the decades old advert. Sure, the cars in it were all from the 50’s and the equipment was outdated but it wasn’t the actual shop in the picture that was important, it was what it represented.</p><p> </p><p>“One day,” Rey murmured to herself, eyes sliding shut. “One day.”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey folded her reusable grocery bag and tucked it into her sling pack, preparing for her weekly grocery run and the other errands she had to perform. Thursdays were the only days that she didn’t work. At all. While she had, once, worked seven days a week, sun up until well after sun down, she had quickly burned out. Finn and Rose, her two closest and dearest friends, had finally put their feet down when Rey collapsed in exhaustion while returning to her apartment one night, right there in front of her apartment door. Had her friends not been coming over to see her anyway…</p><p> </p><p>Rey shuddered, knowing she had been very lucky that they were the first ones to find her.</p><p> </p><p>After that, they insisted she take more time to rest and relax, if only for their own peace of mind. Rey had, reluctantly, agreed.</p><p> </p><p>“All right, BB,” she said, smiling, “Let’s see how much we’ve got to spend this week.”</p><p> </p><p>While her job at Plutt’s and her gig as a dog walker were usually just enough to cover her rent, the money she made from Takeout Taxi was relegated to paying for her groceries, laundry and “other things”. Rey snorted. “Other things” was how Finn used to refer to <em> feminine products </em>. Rey giggled at how embarrassed he had been the first time they went shopping together and she had tossed a box of tampons in their hand cart. He was well over it now, gladly going down to the store for either of his “best gals” to buy them tampons, pads, chocolate and pain meds. He had even sprung for a couple of heating pads once - a dark green one for Rey and a lovely lavender one for Rose - after a little old lady noticed what else was in his basket and recommended he get his ladylove one to help with the cramps.</p><p> </p><p><em> ‘Bless him,’ </em> Rey thought, giggles returning at how bemused Finn had been at the woman thinking he had a girl at home.</p><p> </p><p><em> “But...I’m so obviously gay I could be the poster boy for Pride,” </em> he had said, confused as hell.</p><p> </p><p>Rey and Rose had laughed, long and hard, at him before settling down to watch <em> Tattoo Me </em> reruns on Rose’s Netflix account.</p><p> </p><p>Rey pulled up her banking app and waited while her phone, with its horrible signal, read her thumb print and logged into her account. She hummed to herself, giddy with the idea of buying a frozen pizza or two and some cookies. Her week had been, overall, decent. Even that last delivery on Monday had turned out okay - she had arrived just as the clock rounded to the hour and she had breathed a huge sigh of relief, even as the customer had looked disgruntled at losing out on a free meal. She had made it, in spite of the delay with B. Solo. </p><p> </p><p>Rey sucked in a breath at the memory of his dark eyes, darker hair and plush mouth. Damn it all, the man had been <em> gorgeous </em>. It just wasn’t fair.</p><p> </p><p>The breath that Rey had drawn in caught in her throat and she coughed; wracking, heaving coughs that took her to her knees. Tears gathering in her eyes, she looked again at the app on her phone, not believing what she was seeing.</p><p> </p><p>She had just over two-hundred dollars in her account.</p><p> </p><p><em> How? </em> There must have been some mistake! Navigating from the summary page and to her checking account, Rey scrolled up once until the most recent deposit showed. It was from Takeout Taxi and was for one-hundred and ninety-three dollars. Rey fell back on her ass. She stared for a moment, dumbfounded, then selected the deposit and the app pulled up the electronic photo. It was legit. But how?</p><p> </p><p>Rey backed out of the banking app and pulled up the Takeout Taxi app, her account loading automatically. She selected <em> “statements” </em> then <em> “most recent statement” </em>. There, at the top and in bold Arial font was the figure $193.09. She scrolled down the screen, looking over it. Twenty dollars in gas and delivery fees paid out to her, another fifty-one dollars and three cents in wages and, there, at the bottom on the line marked “tips”: one-hundred and twenty-eight dollars and six cents.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> How? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Rey went back to the main screen and pulled up the tips logger. She had gotten the one cash tip on Monday and three more on Tuesday with no cash tips on Wednesday. That left eleven orders that had been tipped on card payments. She looked over the list, starting with Wednesday: one dollar, a buck eighty, three dollars and forty-five cents, nothing, nothing, five dollars, four dollars and twelve cents, nothing, ninety-nine cents, two dollars, nothing and…</p><p> </p><p>One. Hundred. Dollars.</p><p> </p><p>Rey glanced down at the rest of the list, adding it up in her head. Twenty-eight dollars and six cents in tips from other people and then this. One hundred dollars. Someone had tipped her one hundred kriffing dollars. Hand shaking, Rey tapped the line and the receipt sprang up on her screen. She sucked in a lungful of air, white-hot anger coursing through her.</p><p> </p><p>That <em> bastard </em>!</p><p> </p><p>Steaming, Rey stood and grabbed her keys. She shoved her helmet on her head and roughly pulled BB out of his nook and into the hall, locking her door behind her. Struggling down the two flights of stairs, as she did every day, Rey finally made it to the exit of her building and rolled BB out onto the street. She straddled her moped, keyed it on and threw it into gear, lurching out into traffic without even looking. She took off at a speed that she would normally avoid, in consideration of poor BB’s engine that was in desperate need of some work. She was too mad to care.</p><p> </p><p>Her fury had not abated in the time it took to make it from her apartment to downtown Chandrila and when she finally found a parking spot within sight of her target, she was about ready to scream. She hurried through the glass doors and bypassed security without acknowledging the disinterested guard’s halfhearted call for her to stop. She threw herself into the first elevator available and smashed her finger down on the button for the one hundred and seventeenth floor.</p><p> </p><p>Though the elevator was faster than most, it still took way too much time to reach the top floor of the stupid tower where the stupid CEO’s office resided. Rey’s anger only continued to grow with each floor she passed and by the time the elevator doors opened to let her out, Rey was ready to commit murder.</p><p> </p><p>The absolute gall of that man! How dare he?</p><p> </p><p>“Miss Rey?” Mitaka rose from his seat as she approached, eyes wide. “But...today is Thursday...you said you don’t work on...oh, you aren’t wearing your uniform.”</p><p> </p><p>No, she wasn’t. Rey cursed herself for not dressing more impressively, though she hadn’t known at the time she was getting ready that she would end up heading to see B. Solo, CEO of Force Enterprises. Hopefully to ring his stupid neck. The peach and cream striped sundress with comically large pockets and cornflower blue, frayed Converse weren’t exactly intimidating but she didn’t care. Her pony tail bounced behind her as she passed Mitaka’s desk, ignoring his pleas for her to wait, and she threw open the doors of Solo’s office.</p><p> </p><p>He was standing in front of his desk, file in hand and glasses perched on his nose. He looked up at her when she entered and snapped the file closed, jaw dropping. Rey was thrown off, for just a moment, by the sight of Solo in glasses. Her face warmed and her stomach swooped. She shook it off and marched toward him.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell is this bullshit?” Rey snarled, yanking her phone out and pulling up the photo of Solo’s lunch receipt from Monday.</p><p> </p><p>She shoved the phone into his face and he jerked back. He ended up leaning against the desk, his free hand holding onto the edge. Solo glanced at her, then down to her phone. His eyebrow rose and he looked back up at her. Before he could speak, Mitaka ran into the room, panting.</p><p> </p><p>“I am so sorry, sir,” he said, breathless, “I will call security.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey snarled again, turning her head to glare at Mitaka who backed away, hands held up in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine,” Solo said and she whipped her head back around to gawk at him, “leave us, Mitaka.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey heard the P.A. back out of the room and the doors shut. She lifted her chin at Solo, gesturing for him to return his gaze to her phone.</p><p> </p><p>“That appears to be the receipt from my lunch order on Monday,” he drolled.</p><p> </p><p>Rey narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p> </p><p>“And?” She hissed.</p><p> </p><p>Solo’s brow rose even higher.</p><p> </p><p>“And what?” He asked, seemingly without care.</p><p> </p><p>Rey jiggled her phone in his face again.</p><p> </p><p>“Care to explain what the hell that is?” She asked him, losing any patience she may have had left. She peaked around at the screen of the phone and jabbed a finger at the tip line.</p><p> </p><p>Solo’s mouth twitched.</p><p> </p><p>“I do believe that is the tip I left on the order,” he responded and Rey could hear the smug humor in his tone.</p><p> </p><p>She poked him in the chest, finally lowering her phone and slipping it back into her sling pack.</p><p> </p><p>“I. Am. Not. A. Charity. Case.” She said, each word punctuated by her finger jambing into his sternum, over and over. “I work, extremely hard, for every single dollar that I earn. I don’t need some, some, <em> toff </em>tossing his money at me like I’m some kind of…”</p><p> </p><p>She trailed off, unsure how, exactly, she had meant to finish that statement.</p><p> </p><p>“Some kind of what, sweetheart?” Solo smirked at her then, apparently finding her anger amusing.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” Rey fairly growled the word, forcibly ignoring the jolt of heat between her legs at the endearment.</p><p> </p><p>She lifted her hand once more, intending to poke him again, but his hand caught her wrist before her finger could make contact with his chest. Rey’s breath caught. She hadn’t realized how close they were until that very moment. The heat of his palm bled into her and she felt her face flush.</p><p> </p><p>Solo looked at her, eyes drifting over her face. They softened, just a touch, and he released her. Rey stepped back, pulling her hand to her chest and breathing harshly. Though his hold hadn’t been at all painful, it had burned in such a way that she still felt it thrumming through her body.</p><p> </p><p>“My apologies,” Solo murmured.</p><p> </p><p>The soft words made Rey take another step back and she snorted.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever, wanker,” she hissed and turned on her heel. </p><p> </p><p>She barrelled out of his office as furiously as she had charged into it and, once again, ignored Mitaka as she made her way to the elevator. Once inside, she let out a dry sob.</p><p> </p><p><em> Fuck </em>.</p><p> </p><p>She was so, so fucked. Why had she let her temper, her pride, get the best of her? Rey knew that the moment she left his office, Solo had likely had Mitaka on the phone with Takeout Taxi to file a report against her.</p><p> </p><p>She would probably be fired before the elevator reached the ground floor.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey hadn’t been fired.</p><p> </p><p>Though she had waited, anxiously, all day Thursday, all day Friday and all through the weekend, she hadn’t heard from Takeout Taxi. Rey worked the delivery service Monday through Wednesday and every other weekend. The past weekend had been her off-week and the waiting to hear if she still had a job had been agonizing. When she got the notification Monday morning that her deliveries had been assigned, Rey was almost sure it must be a mistake.</p><p> </p><p>Had Solo not called to complain about her behavior on Thursday?</p><p> </p><p>Rey didn’t understand. She couldn’t. A man like Solo lived and breathed being in control, being deferred to. For someone like Rey, a nobody, to just stroll into his office and give him the what-for...he should have been furious. So, why hadn’t he reported her?</p><p> </p><p>Rey decided to do what she always did when confused and anxious. She called Finn.</p><p> </p><p>“Peanut,” he said, barely holding back a laugh. “I’m sure he just decided you weren’t worth the effort and brushed it off.”</p><p> </p><p>Ouch. While Rey knew what Finn meant by that, it still stung. He must have realized how his words had come off because he sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what I mean, Rey,” apology in his tone clear, “I just meant that a guy like Solo...I mean, he runs a multi-billion dollar company. I doubt he has time to worry about delivery women who shout at him and call him names.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“I guess,” she aquisenced. “Still, it would have been nice to know he wasn’t going to retaliate before I spent the last four days pulling my hair out and chewing my nails down to the nubs.”</p><p> </p><p>Finn laughed at her again.</p><p> </p><p>“Peanut, your nails were already nubs, even before this!”</p><p> </p><p>Rey glared at her phone and stuck her tongue out, muttering “tosser” at him before hanging up.</p><p> </p><p>Deciding to just let it go, Rey pushed herself up from her bed and headed to her wardrobe. It was too damn hot for pants so she pulled out her shorts instead. As long as the bottoms were khaki and the official company shirt was tucked in with a belt, Takeout Taxi didn’t care what delivery drivers wore. She pulled her one polo over her head, tugging it down and tucking the ends into her cotton shorts. She reached for her belt but came up empty. Scrunching her nose, she dropped to her knees and searched under the wardrobe, which was the only piece of furniture in her bedroom besides her bed. Nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Damn.</p><p> </p><p>Rey closed her eyes, thinking. Ah, right. Rose had borrowed her black belt on Saturday for her job at the bar. Her own belt, over five years old, had finally broken and she had needed a replacement, fast. With no stores open that late, Rose had come over to borrow Rey’s. Well, no way she could get it back right now. Rose was in class and Rey didn’t have time to go over to her apartment anyway. It would have to be her only other belt then. Rey almost laughed. She stood and pulled the white faux leather from the wardrobe.</p><p> </p><p>The painted faces of the Ninja Turtles smiled back at her and Rey shook her head, knowing that the belt was NOT uniform approved. It wasn’t exactly against company policy but she knew it would cause a great many frowns amongst Takeout Taxi management if any of them ever saw her in it. Good thing the chances of that were almost nil. She slipped the belt through the loops of her shorts and fastened the pizza shaped buckle with a giggle.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>The day had been good, so far. While she usually had about five or six deliveries a day, this day, she had seven and all but two had been bundled together in about a three block radius. It was only one-fifteen and she only had one delivery left to do. Rey sighed, thinking about the extra half hour she was going to have before work at Plutt’s. She would be able to both shower <em> and </em>take a nap!</p><p> </p><p><em> ‘Good thing, too,’ </em> Rey thought, <em> ‘It’s sweltering and I probably stink from sweating in this god-awful heat.’ </em></p><p> </p><p>She pulled out her phone and checked the app. She, somewhat impatiently, waited for the last delivery to load. It had come in later than the others and she had only briefly glanced at it, long enough to know where to pick up the order. Rey closed her eyes in defeat when the delivery location popped up.</p><p> </p><p>B. Solo at Force Enterprises. Well damn.</p><p> </p><p>Rey sighed, stowed her phone, and started BB up. She didn’t need the navigation for this one.</p><p> </p><p>When she arrived at the towering corporate building, Rey sat for a moment, just thinking. Maybe Finn was right. Maybe Solo hadn’t given two shits about what she had done last week. Suddenly exhausted, Rey dismounted the moped and clopped around to the hot box to take out her last delivery. Maz’s again. It seemed to be his favorite according to his log, ordering from there at least seven times out of ten and it was the only place where his order was always the same: loaded club sandwich on grilled sourdough, onion rings, ranch dressing and a slice of Maz’s secret recipe pear pie. It was exactly the type of meal Rey would never have expected someone like Mr. Solo to order, let alone eat. Somehow, she knew that he would probably request one of Maz’s handmade shakes to go with it if it wouldn’t have melted well before reaching him.</p><p> </p><p>Rey moved slowly toward the building, slipped inside and signed in at the front desk. The same guard from the day she had stormed in was sitting there, eyeing her wearily. She flashed him an embarrassed smile and headed toward the elevators. On her way up to Solo’s office, Rey pulled out her phone. She pulled up the search app and typed in “Solo CEO” before the field auto-completed with Force Enterprises. She hit enter and waited. When the page loaded, Mr. Solo’s face was the first thing she saw. He was younger, by at least a couple of years and tapping the picture to open the link led her to an old Business Monthly article behind a paywall. The headline told her what she needed to know, however, and she closed the app.</p><p> </p><p>Ben. His name was Ben. Ben Solo, named youngest CEO in the history of Force Enterprises only two years ago at the age of twenty-seven. That meant he was twenty-nine now and almost six years older than Rey. She flinched, wondering what he must think of her. By the time he was her age, he had probably gotten a couple of elite degrees from a couple of exclusive universities. Meanwhile, she delivered food, walked dogs and tinkered with engines for shady and probably not completely legal customers at Plutt’s. Rey sighed, the exhaustion from before doubling. She tried to shake it off, remind herself that she had a goal and everything she was doing now would help her achieve it. Rey wasn’t handed everything like this Ben Solo obviously had been. She was working and working <em> hard </em>to get what she wanted.</p><p> </p><p><em> “Don’t be such a snob, Rey,” </em> she imagined Rose chastising her.</p><p> </p><p>Rey hung her head in shame. She knew Rose had been right, the night she told her to stop looking at wealthy people like that. Like they didn’t work or try or suffer or...Rose was right and Rey had to remember that just because some rich people had treated her like garbage, that did not mean that all rich people were complete jerks.</p><p> </p><p>The memory of her foster family when she was ten brushed through her mind and she dismissed it and the lump in her throat. The Whitmore’s may not have wanted her, may have told the foster agent that she was<em> “too wild, too feral” </em> for them to take in but she didn’t care. Not anymore. It was their loss. Rey would have been a great daughter. Too bad they were too blinded by her ratty coat and mismatched shoes to see it.</p><p> </p><p>The elevator announced her arrival at the top floor and Rey took a deep, cleansing breath before stepping off. She walked steadily down the hall, head held high. When she emerged in the waiting area in front of Solo’s office, she cleared her throat and pasted a big grin on her face. Mitaka looked up at the sound and gave her a weak smile back.</p><p> </p><p>“Good afternoon, Mitaka,” Rey said, proud that her voice did not waver.</p><p> </p><p>Mitaka nodded at her, his smile growing into a genuine one. Rey felt relieved.</p><p> </p><p>“Go on in,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>Rey stopped.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” She asked, confused.</p><p> </p><p>Mitaka’s smile grew mischievous and Rey suddenly felt nervous.</p><p> </p><p>“Mr. Solo will be accepting your deliveries from now on,” Mitaka explained, “personally.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey wondered if it might be possible to pass out from a lack of oxygen while, at the same time, sucking in too much air. She felt dizzy.</p><p> </p><p>“Um,” she stuttered, unsure, “really?”</p><p> </p><p>Mitaka nodded at her and waved his pen toward Mr. Solo’s office doors.</p><p> </p><p>“Just give a knock to let him know you’re here and go in,” he said and then turned back to the paperwork in front of him, marking an end to his involvement in the whole affair.</p><p> </p><p>Well then.</p><p> </p><p>Rey kept glancing at Mitaka as she walked toward Solo’s office, certain that he was going to jump up and yell, “just kidding” at any moment. When she reached the doors and he hadn’t so much as breathed in her direction, Rey huffed out a sigh and resigned herself to facing Solo once more. She rapped her knuckles against the door once, sharply, and then let herself in. That same, masculine scent hit her full force and she staggered for a moment, heart racing. </p><p> </p><p>Solo was not at his desk. Rather, he was sitting in one of the club chairs in front of the fireplace, glasses on and suit jacket off. His tie had been loosened and two of his shirt buttons were undone. His forearms were bared by his rolled up shirtsleeves and Rey’s mouth began to water. He had one leg crossed over the other, right foot resting on his left knee and a large file sat atop it. He had a pen in his hand, expensive looking, and every so often he raised it to his mouth, running the tip of it over his plump bottom lip.</p><p> </p><p>Rey had never wanted to be a pen so badly in her entire life.</p><p> </p><p>She must have made some sort of noise because in that moment, Solo looked up and their eyes locked.</p><p> </p><p>“Um,” she stuttered, cursing herself for allowing him to throw her so off-kilter, “Mitaka said…”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Solo interrupted her, standing and setting his file on the marble coffee table in front of him. “Come in.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey followed him to his desk where he pulled out his large binder of credit cards and she set his food down. She pulled out the card reader from her fanny pack and handed it over, barely stopping her hand from shaking. The room was almost silent as Solo swiped his card, marked the tip section and signed the screen. When he handed the card reader back to her, Rey glanced down at it but he must have hit the submit button for her because there was nothing there but the Takeout Taxi logo.</p><p> </p><p>When she looked back up at him, Solo was staring at her, regarding her with something in his eyes that she didn’t recognize but felt the heat of all the same. Her heart racing, Rey took a moment to simply study the man in front of her. <em> Kriff </em>, he was beautiful. Through his open shirt collar, she realized that the moles on his face had friends that lay provocatively on his neck and collarbone. Rey wondered where else they might be hiding on his body. At the thought, she gasped and her eyes shot back up to his. That look in his eyes was still there but deeper, darker, hotter than before.</p><p> </p><p>Rey staggered back, clutching the card reader to her chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Th...” she swallowed around her suddenly dry throat, “thank you for choosing Takeout Taxi.”</p><p> </p><p>A beat of silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Bye,” she squeaked out and turned tail, practically running out the door.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Ben Solo had two more deliveries that week but neither one had been assigned to Rey. She only knew because her neighbor and fellow Takeout Taxi delivery driver, Snap Wexley, had complained to her about having to deliver to the man two days in a row and only getting disappointed sighs from Mitaka when he walked in the office.</p><p> </p><p><em> “Little guy must have a crush on you, Rey-Rey,” </em>Snap had said, jostling her in the arm while they folded their clothes next to one another in the basement laundromat.</p><p> </p><p>Rey thought Snap might very well be gay-blind. He still thought she and Finn were an item, no matter how many times she told him it would never happen unless she changed genders. Most likely, not even then. She and Finn were too close, too much like family.</p><p> </p><p>Still, Rey wondered at Mitaka’s disappointment in seeing Snap instead of her. She huffed, irritated with herself. Mitaka probably just didn’t like Snap. That was all.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>When Rey opened her bank app on Thursday that week, she did so with bated breath. Surely, <em>surely</em>, Solo had gotten whatever that was last week out of his system and she would find the same, customary three dollar tip on his receipt.</p><p> </p><p>“Five hundred and eighty-seven dollars?” She screeched.</p><p> </p><p>The cat in the apartment next door let out a yowl and Rey heard her neighbor pound on the wall between their flats.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking, Rey pulled up the statement from the week before and scrolled through it to the tips. Once there, she closed her eyes for a moment then, breathing hard, moved through the receipt lines until she found it.</p><p> </p><p>Five. Hundred. Dollars.</p><p> </p><p>What? The Actual? Fuck?</p><p> </p><p>She tapped the line and the receipt popped up. There it was, in black and white. Order total sixteen-fifty-three. Tip, five-hundred dollars. And in elegant, scrolling script: <em> B. Solo </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Rey dropped her phone in her lap, staring at the wall in front of her. She made just over four hundred dollars a week working at Plutt’s and dog-walking. Added together, four weeks gave her just enough to pay her rent and utilities and still stash about fifty dollars away in her savings account. Any time she did remarkably well on tips with the delivery service, that money, too, went into savings (though she did splurge on food or a movie every so often). It was slow going and sometimes Rey felt like she was never going to make enough to open her own shop.</p><p> </p><p>She glanced up at the poster on her wall. She had found it in the storage closet of the auto-shop classroom-slash-garage in high school. She had just been moved to yet another foster home and yet another new school. Coming in after the semester had already started, Rey had only auto-shop or modern dance to pick from. As she was not at all interested in, nor did she have any sort of aptitude for, dance, Rey had selected auto-shop. It had changed her life. The program was actually certified by the state and she was lucky enough to spend the last two years of high school in the same district. She had completed the program and graduated with her mechanic’s certification.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, being a female mechanic had made getting hired tough. Being so young hadn’t helped either and she had ended up at Plutt’s, slaving away for ludicrously low wages and working on cars she was almost positive were stolen.</p><p> </p><p>Rey looked back down at her phone, swiping the screen to bring it back to life. It lit up and the numbers there taunted her. Why in the hell had he done that? Rey then noticed something else. The little star icon at the bottom of the app was lit gold. She had a compliment? No one <em> ever </em>filled out the surveys.</p><p> </p><p>Rey tapped it and the screen changed. Rey read the review with growing anxiety.</p><p> </p><p>“Exceptional service. Punctual. Extremely polite. Well organized. The best delivery person I have yet to deal with. - B. Solo”</p><p> </p><p>That <em> fucker </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Rey couldn’t help it. She started laughing. Tears streamed down her face as her giggles turned into snorting peels which rolled into a barking noise that made her throat hurt.</p><p> </p><p>“Extremely polite, Mr. Solo? Really?” She asked no one once her laughter had trailed off. “Oh, I’m about to show you just how <em> polite </em>I can be.”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Ben Solo was many things - intelligent, hard working, resourceful, successful - but he had never considered himself a, what was it she had called him, a wanker? He would be the first to acknowledge that he had a tendency to be rude when flustered and he knew that he often came off as a...snob. Still, he hadn’t ever, <em> ever </em>, had someone tell him to his face that he was a...ah, yes, a stuffed-shirt tosser. That was definitely new.</p><p> </p><p>Something else Ben had never considered about himself, something he was almost ashamed to discover…</p><p> </p><p>He was much more like his father than he cared to admit.</p><p> </p><p>When the delivery woman - Rey - had rounded on him, eyes afire and finger poking him repeatedly in his chest, he had found himself growing hard. Her anger had called to him in a way that he wasn’t sure he knew what to do with. Her open admiration of him after he had paid for his lunch had left him hungry for something other than his French Dip.</p><p> </p><p>When she had returned several days later, slamming her way into his office and confronting him over the, admittedly, ridiculous tip he had given her, Ben knew he was a goner. Having her so close was heady. Her light, citrus scent - bergamot, he was positive - clouded his mind and he had been thoroughly distracted by her bare shoulders and collar bone and by her perfectly sized chest highlighted by the neckline of her sundress. She had been stunning and he had barely had enough wherewithal to flirt, rather lamely, before she had tried to poke him again. Touching her, even just his hand on her wrist, had made him dizzy. She was so soft, so delicate.</p><p> </p><p>Ben snorted. Perhaps not <em> that </em>delicate.</p><p> </p><p>Her parting shot had been rather tame, much to his disappointment, but he knew without any doubt in his mind that he had to see this woman again.</p><p> </p><p>When she arrived on Monday to deliver his food, he had been waiting for her. Strategically placing himself in the best light in the room, undoing his tie and shirt buttons and rolling up his sleeves; all of it was designed to make her see past whatever it was she didn’t like about him and to see him as a man instead.</p><p> </p><p>Considering the look in her eyes as they had travelled over him that day, Ben would say that the chances it had worked were pretty good.</p><p> </p><p>He knew, however, that he had likely shot himself in the foot. Not only had he tipped her overly well - the ludicrous sum of five-hundred dollars - he had actually responded to the survey text the delivery service had sent him, leaving her a glowing review.</p><p> </p><p>She was probably going to kill him.</p><p> </p><p>Ben cringed as another thought took hold. He had asked his father once, when he was around ten or eleven, why Han always seemed to be picking fights with Leia, stupid fights that were pretty pointless in Ben’s eyes. Han had just smirked at him and said, <em> “Trust me kid, you’ll understand one day, when you’re older” </em>. Ben didn’t get it then.</p><p> </p><p>He sure as hell did now.</p><p> </p><p>Ben leaned back on his sofa, closing his eyes. He kicked off his shoes, hearing the <em> thud </em> , <em> thud </em>, as they hit the overpriced Persian rug. Visions of Rey swam behind his eyelids. He chuckled to himself, remembering the Ninja Turtles wrist watch and belt she had been wearing. A wry smile stole over his mouth. Well, that was one thing they had in common, at least. He wondered if she would appreciate the boxes of TMNT merch he had stashed away in his closet, collected over two decades. He had received the first item, a t-shirt that was now, obviously, much too small, when he was seven years old. His dad had brought it home with him after yet another weeks-long job out of town. Ben hadn’t known what the hell the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were but...well, a gift from Han was a gift Ben cherished. At least, at that age. Still, he had lucked out in finding a video tape in the library of the original 1980s movie and had watched it over and over again until he had to return it.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, Leia had bought him his own copy.</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s wrinkled nose drifted into his thoughts. She had done it several times through their interactions and Ben felt his heart flip each and every time. The woman wasn’t just gorgeous, she was cute too. That was a rare combination in Ben’s experience and he had found that gorgeous without the cute usually meant cold and uninteresting. Ben may be “made of money” but he was still the blue collar boy his mama had raised him as, in spite of her own wealthy background, and he tended to be put off by the type of women that ran in the circles in which he now found himself.</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes…</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes he wondered if it was all worth it; working, working, working and never taking time for himself, time to enjoy life. He had blown off dating and partying in college, eyes set firmly on the prize. Though, the prize back then had been much different than what he ended up achieving. He hadn’t pictured himself the CEO of the largest tech company in the country, family business notwithstanding. No, Ben had wanted to be a writer. He had majored in literature and double-minored in history and sociology. He had had plans. His first novel would have been a new take on the hero’s journey, spanning over countless years and dozens of continents. A man, broken and in the darkest period of his life, learning who he was again. A story that hit Ben closer to his heart than he dared acknowledge.</p><p> </p><p>He glanced at the bookshelf across from him, suddenly sad. Knowing that if he allowed himself to wallow much longer he would end up with a lowball in one hand and the bottle of whiskey Han had given him for Christmas in the other, Ben heaved himself up and shuffled off to bed.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Ben moved listlessly through the contracts scattered across his desk, wondering what in the hell he had done with his reading glasses. A knock on the door had him jolting up and he hurriedly unbuttoned two shirt buttons while loosening his tie. His jacket was already off and shirtsleeves rolled up, thankfully, and he had just enough time to snatch up his pen and make himself look busy when the door opened and Rey stepped inside.</p><p> </p><p>“Takeout Taxi!” She chirped and when Ben looked up at the unexpectedly chipper tone, he saw the largest, brightest grin spread across her face.</p><p> </p><p>Ben wasn’t sure why, but it scared the absolute hell out of him. Inconveniently, it also turned him on and he wondered at his own sanity. His concern over her demeanor must have been obvious because her grin grew even wider.</p><p> </p><p>Oh yes, she was going to kill him.</p><p> </p><p>“Here you are,” she continued in the same overly happy tone, “One Summer Salad, no tomatoes and extra strawberries, a cup of Onion Soup and a toasted croissant, extra butter.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey set the container down on his desk, gently, and pulled the card reader from her fanny pack. Ben watched, cautiously, as she scrolled through it to his order and then held it out to him. Slowly, he reached out and took the device from her hand, watching her eyes widen and then darken momentarily when their fingers brushed. He took the credit card he had pulled out earlier and slid it through the scanner, never taking his eyes off of Rey. She was watching him intently, still grinning scarily, and Ben began to wonder just what she was up to. Once the receipt popped up on the screen, Ben hesitated over the tip box, just for a moment, before deciding, what the hell, if he was going to die he was going to go out with a bang.</p><p> </p><p>He marked the tip, signed the bottom and handed the device back to Rey after “accidentally” hitting the confirm button for her again. Her eyes narrowed on the screen but when she looked back up at him, her grin was still in place.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, once again, for choosing Takeout Taxi!” Rey said, her cheariness obviously false now.</p><p> </p><p>Ben smirked at her, knowing it would only piss her off.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” he purred, purposefully lowering his voice into a soft rumble.</p><p> </p><p>He was rewarded with the sound of Rey’s breath catching and her cheeks turning pink. She glared at him then, finally, and turned away. Less than a foot from the door, she stopped and looked back at him, smiling devilishly.</p><p> </p><p>“Enjoy your lunch, Mr. Solo,” she said and then she left his office, bounce in her step.</p><p> </p><p>Ben swallowed and eyed the takeout container sitting on top of the Holdo contract, looking as innocent and inconspicuous as a takeout container could look. She had done something to his lunch, hadn’t she? He reached out and dragged the box toward him, wondering just what he was in for. The thought of the absolutely insane tip he had just left her drifted through his mind and he smiled. Whatever she had done, it was worth it for the incandescent fury that what <em> he </em>had done would cause.</p><p> </p><p>He was counting on it.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Ben tossed his spoon back in the paper cup holding his soup. He worked his mouth, sliding his tongue back and forth and trying to work up enough saliva to swallow. When it wasn’t enough, he reluctantly reached for his water and took another large swig, swishing it around in his mouth and swallowing. Damn it all, his bladder was pressing on him from all of the water he had to drink just to get the soup to go down. Muttering to himself about cheeky take-out delivery women, Ben stood abruptly from his desk and ran to the ensuite bathroom. As he relieved himself, Ben wondered just how much salt Rey had dumped in his tomato soup.</p><p> </p><p>The previous Monday, it had been his salad that she had tampered with. The amount of pepper and garlic salt she had sprinkled on it had made his eyes water but he had powered through and had eaten the entire thing (and then spent twenty minutes brushing and gargling in the hopes of saving his breath). On Tuesday, Ben had had a lunch meeting with Hux and Phasma but Wednesday, Rey had decided that adding what had to have been an entire liter of lemon juice to his mango salsa salmon was the way to go. It had been so sour, Ben’s mouth had <em> ached </em>.</p><p> </p><p>He could tell that Mitaka was growing concerned.</p><p> </p><p>The reprieve of the next four days almost had Ben considering raising the white flag but the moment she stepped into his office that morning with the bag from Maz’s, his resolve returned. Her face was flushed red and he knew that she was angry with him, in spite of the megawatt smile on her face. When he added yet another thousand-dollar tip to his bill, he briefly wondered what his accountant must be thinking.</p><p> </p><p>He took another bite of the salty soup, hating himself. Ben knew it was stupid but he really couldn’t help himself. This was a game that they were playing now: how far would she go in sabotaging his food and how much could he take before he gave in and stopped giving her the ridiculous tips?</p><p> </p><p>Ben was sure, absolutely sure, that he could handle whatever she threw his way.</p><p> </p><p>He took another bite of the soup, glad it was almost gone. A knock at his door had him pushing the mostly empty cup away, satisfied that he had won this round.</p><p> </p><p>“Erm, sir?” Mitaka poked his head in and Ben gestured for him to enter. </p><p> </p><p>Mitaka shuffled in, looking nervous. It set Ben on edge.</p><p> </p><p>“Um,” Mitaka looked like he would rather be anywhere but there. “The Eagle’s Chariot was spotted circling the building about three minutes ago.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben gulped. Three minutes. That meant that he had less than five to hide. He stood from his desk and began making his way to the bathroom, hoping to make it in time. Mitaka yelped and scurried out, no doubt trying to think of a way to stall.</p><p> </p><p>No such luck.</p><p> </p><p>Ben made it less than two feet from his desk when Mitaka yelped again and stuttered out a “Good Afternoon”. Ben froze.</p><p> </p><p>“Benjamin!”</p><p> </p><p>Ben turned slowly, trying to make his aborted escape attempt appear like he was preparing to greet his guest. Or, guests, he supposed, spying the other person walking behind the first.</p><p> </p><p>“Mother,” Ben rumbled, smoothing a hand down his front before stepping forward to hug the tiny ball of Earth-shaking power, “Dad.” He nodded to his father and Han grinned back, slouching into a chair and shoving his hands behind his head. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Ben asked.</p><p> </p><p>Leia levelled him with a look of abject consternation and Ben suddenly felt nine years old again and prepared himself for the scolding that was surely coming.</p><p> </p><p>“Since when do you come to work looking so dishevelled,” Leia asked, attempting to smooth out his collar and adjust his vest. Ben slapped at her hands and she glared at him.</p><p> </p><p>“I do not look dishevelled, mother,” Ben groused, “I merely made myself comfortable while I took lunch.”</p><p> </p><p>Leia huffed at him but, apparently, decided to leave it and get to the point of her visit.</p><p> </p><p>“Speaking of lunch, Ackbar has informed me that you are spending an obscene amount of money on takeout, Ben,” Leia said, “Thousands of dollars in less than a month. Care to explain?”</p><p> </p><p>Ben sighed. He knew he should have switched to his personal card for his lunch purchases. Ackbar may keep the accounts for the company, and have the right to tell the president, Leia, about his spending habits, but Ben’s personal accounts Ben handled himself. He cleared his throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah,” He started, then stopped. Unsure of how to explain.</p><p> </p><p>Just then, the door flew open and Ben looked up in relief, thinking that Mitaka had managed to come up with an excuse for Ben to have to leave. That relief vanished when he saw not Mitaka, but Rey standing in the doorway, her mouth already open to no doubt yell at him once again.</p><p> </p><p><em> ‘I guess she found the cash,’ </em> he thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you out of your damned mind, Solo?” She yelled, marching up to him and shaking a rather large wad of bills at him. It was clear that she hadn’t registered that they weren’t alone.</p><p> </p><p>Even so, Ben took a moment to admire her flushed face and the little, wispy hairs that clung to her forehead with a light sheen of sweat. Roughly three hundred dollars in twenties being shoved into his face broke him out of his hormone driven stupor.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, Rey,” he began, holding his hands up in supplication, hoping to placate her before she went nuclear on his ass. In front of his parents no less.</p><p> </p><p>Her expression collapsed from irritation into abject fury.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t you <em> ‘now Rey’ </em> me, Solo!” She shouted. “It’s bad enough that you insist of tipping me like this on your stupid card, now you’re shoving cash at me? Are you mad or just an idiot? And how in the hell did you manage to sneak this into my fanny pack anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>A loud guffaw erupted from the seating area next to the fireplace. Ben and Rey both turned to see Han grinning like a loon.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I like her,” Han smirked.</p><p> </p><p>Rey took a step back from Ben, much to his disappointment, and turned to take in the other people in the room. She flushed red.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Rey mumbled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Leia stepped forward, smiling softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, is it?” She asked and Ben knew that tone. Leia was about to go fishing for information and damn it all if she wouldn’t get exactly what she wanted. “What do you mean about the tips?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey looked unsure and glanced at Ben but he’d be damned if he knew what to say. He glanced between the two women and he must have looked especially panicked because Rey suddenly looked gleeful.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I’m Rey,” she said to Leia and pointed to the double-T on wheels emblem that was sown into the breast of her company polo. “I deliver for Takeout Taxi and this man,” she thrust a finger in Ben’s direction and he arched back to avoid being hit in the chin, “is an imbecile.”</p><p> </p><p>Han was practically crying, he was laughing so hard, holding his stomach and doubled over in his chair. Leia rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Rey.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, my dear, I have no doubt,” Leia hummed, “takes after his father in...certain areas.” She looked back at Han with a scowl that was, somehow, fond.</p><p> </p><p>Rey startled. </p><p> </p><p>“Father?” She asked and looked between Han, Leia and Ben. “Oh! You...you’re his mother?”</p><p> </p><p>Ben groaned. This was <em> not </em>the way that he wanted Rey and his parents to meet. In fact, if Ben had his way they wouldn’t have met for years. Until he and Rey were well married with kids, grown kids. The thought surprised him and Ben wondered when he had fallen so deeply. He glanced at Rey. She was biting her lip, face still flushed. Oh. Right.</p><p> </p><p>Rey seemed to rally herself because she went on and told Leia and Han everything; from the first time she had come into his office to just earlier that day. She didn’t leave anything out about his behavior, or even hers. In fact, it almost seemed like she was trying to paint him in the most ridiculous light possible. Ben shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at the floor, shoulders hunched.</p><p> </p><p>Leia was laughing along with Han by the time Rey was done.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, my sweet boy,” Leia shook her head, her tone soft, “so much like your father. Absolutely awful at flirting.”</p><p> </p><p>“Flirting!” Rey sputtered out at the same time Ben’s head shot up and he shouted, “Mother! Please!” Han’s own, “Hey!” was lost under the noise of the first two exclamations.</p><p> </p><p>Leia ignored Ben and Han and settled her amused eyes on Rey.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, dear,” she said, still laughing gently, “flirting.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey had turned red in front of Ben several times now but what was happening before his eyes was something wholly new. She looked like she was ready to combust.</p><p> </p><p>“But,” she stumbled over her words, “that’s not...I’m not...flirting?”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey took a breath. Then another. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, turning to stare at Solo. He looked so flustered, so embarrassed, that she almost felt sorry for him. She clenched her hand and, remembering the cash, her pity all but vanished. If this was his idea of flirting…</p><p> </p><p>But then, hadn’t Rose and Finn pointed out that she was enjoying her little “war” with Solo just a little too much? Hadn’t Rose pulled her aside the previous night at Pizza and Pictionary Sunday, to tell her to <em> ‘stop pining and kiss the man, already!’ </em> ? Finn, though a little more subtle than Rose, had made the point that <em> ‘you just talk about him all the time, you know? He’s all you ever talk about anymore. Have you ever considered that, maybe you like him?’ </em>‘</p><p> </p><p>Rey wasn’t the type to ignore truths about herself, as least, not for very long. Yes, she did like Ben Solo and not just physically either. She loved that he was able to keep up with her. She loved that he was obviously highly intelligent. She loved every newspaper article or magazine feature that she had found that highlighted his charity work and love of dogs.</p><p> </p><p>Kriff.</p><p> </p><p>Realizing that she had been quiet for far too long, Rey turned to Ben.</p><p> </p><p>“I have other deliveries to make and I am now at least twenty minutes behind. However, this is not over.” She looked at his parents, both regarding her with an odd mix of pride and amusement. “It was a pleasure to meet you both. I have a feeling we might be seeing one another again, soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben’s face lightened and the beginnings of a smile began to show. Well, she couldn’t have him thinking he had won quite yet. Jabbing a finger into his chest, she glared.</p><p> </p><p>“I will be back, idiot,” she huffed and then stormed out.</p><p> </p><p>The last thing she heard as the decorative door closed behind her was Ben’s father rumbling to his son.</p><p> </p><p>“Why the hell’s this soup so salty?”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey waited until she got home, but just barely, before whipping her phone out and ringing Rose and Finn. They had the same computer engineering class on Mondays and it had just let out so Rey knew she would be able to reach both of them by calling one phone. Rose had barely said “hey, girl” before Rey squealed at her friend to find somewhere private and put her on speaker so Finn could hear. The moment she heard the tell-tale echo, Rey burst out.</p><p> </p><p>“He likes me, what do I do?”</p><p> </p><p>Once Rose and Finn stopped laughing at her, during which Rey almost hung up nearly a dozen times, they started talking over one another about her predicament.</p><p> </p><p>“You need to get your sexy panties on, storm that building and throw him over his desk!” Exclaimed Rose.</p><p> </p><p>“You could try talking to him, ask him out to dinner or coffee or something.” Said Finn.</p><p> </p><p>“No way! Girl needs to strip him naked and ride him into next week!” Rose shouted back at him.</p><p> </p><p>Finn snorted. “Not everyone is as thirsty as you, Rose-petal. I’m sure Rey is mature enough to at least wait until they have spent some time together before getting physical.”</p><p> </p><p>Actually...Rey sort of liked Rose’s ideas. Though she did want to go on dates with Ben - talk to him, learn more about him, build a real relationship with him - she was also absolutely as thirsty as Rose, if not more-so since meeting Ben Solo, and she wanted the man. Badly.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think I have any sexy lingerie left,” Rey admitted. “I threw it all out when I broke up with Stephen because I could stand to look at it.”</p><p> </p><p>Rose made a distressed noise.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, honey, that was two years ago! You mean to tell me you’ve been wearing granny-panties every time you get it on?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey was quiet. Too quiet.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy hell, Rey!” Rose shouted. “You haven’t had sex in two years?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hush,” Rey hissed. “I don’t need the whole world knowing about my sex life.”</p><p> </p><p>“What sex life?” She heard Finn mutter and very nearly did hang up then but he spoke up louder and she waited to hear him out. “Okay, Peanut, get yourself over to the girly department at Beckerman’s, get you some hot lace and satin, call out of work for tonight and get yourself dolled up. I’m gonna have to go with Rose on this, now that I know you’ve been suffering two years without proper man-loving.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey barked out a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“So, okay, what? I get dressed up, go to his office and throw myself at him?” She asked, still giggling.</p><p> </p><p>“Now you’ve got it!” Rose crowed and Rey could imagine her tiny friend throwing her arms up in celebration.</p><p> </p><p>Rey bit her lip in thought. Okay, why not? Clearly Solo was into her and she was into him so…</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” she nodded decisively, “I’ll do it.”</p><p> </p><p>After a few more minutes of hearing her friends cheers, encouragement, and advice (don’t forget the condoms, Rey), she headed out to pick up some new, sexy lingerie. Rey wondered if Ben would like her better in black or red.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>In the end, Rey decided on a sweet little white set that had a subtle rose gold shimmer to the lace. The simple bralette and high-waist cheekies were demure in a way that Rey felt actually looked sexier than the skimpier sets she had considered. Once she had showered and had the underthings on, she had to consider what to wear over it. For a brief moment, very brief, she thought about wearing only a trench coat and heels to Ben’s office but dismissed it for several reasons but mostly because she didn’t even have a trench coat.</p><p> </p><p>Rey pushed through her rather meager wardrobe, contemplating over this dress or that shirt before finally settling on the hunter green men’s dress shirt that Rose had picked out for her at the thrift store on Parkmore. Smirking to herself, Rey added her Ninja Turtle belt to cinch the waist, giving herself some semblance of curves. With a few tugs here and a few folds there, she got the shirt to lie over her chest and down her legs to just above mid-thigh in a way that made it look more like a dress. She rolled the sleeves to just under her elbows and left the first few buttons undone, giving a tiny hint at what lay beneath. Adding her simple brown sandals, Rey took one last look in the mirror and then rushed to the bathroom to finish curling her hair.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>After his parents finally left, after much subtle teasing (his mother) and eyebrow wiggling (his father), Ben hunkered down and got to work. He knew Rey meant it when she said she would be back, that this wasn’t over, and he wanted to have the Holdo contract done and out of the way before she came. He had already planned to take a few days once the deal was done and if he got lucky and Rey was receptive to the idea of...him...he thought it might be nice to spend those few days with her.</p><p> </p><p>Amazing, really. Not nice. Nice wasn’t nearly enough…</p><p> </p><p>Ben shook his head and did his best to push all thoughts of Rey away until he finished his final read-through, made the necessary notations and sent the documents off with Mitaka to be checked over by legal. He made sure to include the instructions that they had a deadline that day, otherwise they would hold it until tomorrow to review and he could not have that.</p><p> </p><p>It was nearing five when he got the contract back from legal and almost seven when he received the final go-ahead. He signed it with a flourish and handed it over to Mitaka to copy and take over to Holdo Corp in the morning. He had no doubt Amilyn would sign it, regardless of his small changes, and took a breath, relaxing for the first time in weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Then he realized how late it was. Scrambling to his en-suite, Ben tugged at his suit, tossing pieces behind him and then jumped into the shower. Washing as thoroughly as he could as quickly as he could without getting his hair wet, Ben allowed his thoughts to focus once more on Rey. He thought about the sprinkle of freckles across her nose as he soaped down his chest. He thought about the dimples in her cheeks as she grinned maniacally at him while he rinsed the suds from his back. He thought about the hint of cleavage her striped sundress had highlighted as he carefully cleaned his lower half.</p><p> </p><p>He thought about the way his name sounded on her tongue as he allowed himself one stroke of his cock, unable to resist.</p><p> </p><p>Mentally and physically pulling himself back before his fantasies could go even further, Ben shut off the water and pulled a towel from the stack on the bench next to the shower door. He wondered how long he had been in the bathroom and cursed himself for getting lost in his thoughts. Stepping back into his office to grab one of his spare suits from the hidden closet in the bookcase that loomed behind his desk, he stopped short.</p><p> </p><p>Rey was standing in his office.</p><p> </p><p>The noise of the bathroom door had apparently alerted her to his presence because she turned and, upon seeing him clad only in a towel, her jaw dropped. She quickly closed her mouth but the amusement in her eyes made Ben shuffle on his feet. He felt naked...well, he <em> was </em>naked, practically, but he felt like she could see down to his very soul in that moment. Shockingly, it did not make him uncomfortable, as he might have expected. Still, she must think him a horrible perv for running around his office in the nude.</p><p> </p><p>“I am so sorry,” he whispered, hoping to salvage the situation.</p><p> </p><p>Rey grinned at him.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not.” She said.</p><p> </p><p>Ben staggered at the admission. His Solo genes kicked in, then, and he cocked his hip to the side with a rakish smirk.</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” He drawled, very aware of how his towel had shifted, leaving part of his thigh bare. </p><p> </p><p>Rey’s eyes stroked over the skin there, hungrily. She took a few steps toward him and looked up, catching his eyes with her own. He waited, on baited breath, as she removed first one sandel, then the other, tossing them out of the way. Ben let his gaze dart over to his office doors, confirming that they were closed, then back to her. She was still looking into his eyes and she reached up, slowly, to the Ninja Turtle belt holding the oversized shirt together. Her fingers skimmed over the pizza pie buckle and she tilted her head, ever so slightly. He realized she was waiting for him to do something, to give some kind of reaction. He dipped his chin minutely, urging her on. The look in her eyes grew hot as they darkened. The clunk of the belt on the floor of his office broke him from his trance and he pounced.</p><p> </p><p>He released his hold on the towel and pulled her to him, one hand on her waist, the other reaching up to cup the back of her head. He leaned in, reveling in the feel of her hands sliding up his back. Just before he kissed her, he stopped.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes?” He whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” she breathed and closed the distance between them.</p><p> </p><p>Ben groaned into her mouth, unable to stop himself from pulling her even closer until there was no room left between them. Rey’s hands move greedily over his back before skating around to stroke at his stomach and chest. The feeling had his abs clenching and he swiped his tongue across the seam of her lips, desperate for a taste. The moan he let out the moment his tongue touched hers was almost drowned out by the whimpering sound that broke free from her. Rey clutched him tighter, spearing one hand into his hair and yanking him even closer. For several long, glorious moments, Ben mapped out her mouth, stroking over her tongue and the roof of her mouth, working his lips against hers with abject devotion.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, he broke the kiss, if only to take a moment to get some air back into his lungs. He looked down at Rey, smiling softly.</p><p> </p><p>“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, watching in fascination as she blushed.</p><p> </p><p>He was delighted to see the pink spread across her cheeks, down her neck and over the part of her chest that he could see through to opened buttons on her shirt. She ducked her head, resting it against his shoulder and he nuzzled her temple, letting his lips graze her ear. He jolted, though, when he felt the hand she had on his chest skim down to take hold of his very interested dick.</p><p> </p><p>He had forgotten that he was completely naked.</p><p> </p><p>Ben moaned into her hair as she stroked; once, twice, three times. Stepping back in an attempt to regain some control, Ben reached for the buttons on her shirt, looking to her once again for permission. At her shy smile and nod, he proceeded to remove the buttons from their holes slowly. Once the shirt was unbuttoned, he swept his hands over her shoulders, pushing the fabric from her body and letting it fall to the floor. The sight that greeted him nearly took his breath away.</p><p> </p><p>“Stunning,” he rumbled, “Simply stunning.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben pulled her with him as he stepped back. When he felt the edge of one of the club chairs hit the backs of his legs, he let himself fall into it. Rey climbed into his lap, kneeling over him and fisting her hands in his hair once more, taking him in a kiss so hot and needy he thought he might pass out. Gently, he settled his hands on the back of her thighs then, as her kisses turned more desperate, he slid them up to palm at the bared cheeks of her ass. He let one of his fingers stroke over the fabric that framed the soft cheeks, then burrowed the digit under the edge and traced it back down to the crack of her ass and then further. Upon reaching the soaked lace where her heat was most intense, Rey’s hips bucked causing his knuckle to bump against the lips of her pussy. He pulled his hand away while pulling back from the kiss and brought it to his lips. Rey watched, mouth open and breaths making her chest heave as he sucked on the juices covering his finger.</p><p> </p><p>Ben closed his eyes on a hum and pulled the finger from his mouth with a groan.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you taste so good, sweetheart,” he moaned.</p><p> </p><p>Rey whimpered and dove in again, kissing him as though she wanted to share the taste of herself on his tongue. Ben let her control the kiss, happy to just go along for the ride for the moment. He used the opportunity to squeeze her ass once more and then moved both hands up her torso to her covered breasts. His hands engulfed them completely and he couldn’t help playing with them, letting his hands bounce them a little and then moving over them to massage and tease her nipples through the shimmery fabric. Rey broke away from him on a moan.</p><p> </p><p>“Ben”, she whispered and then dove back in, reaching behind herself and the next thing he knew the bra was falling down her arms and being flung away.</p><p> </p><p>He groaned once more, rolling his thumbs over her now-bared nipples. Unable to take it any longer, he broke away from their latest kiss and ducked down. Rey rose up a little more on her knees, allowing his mouth to reach her chest, and she squealed when he took one of the rosy nipples gently between his teeth. Flicking his tongue over the trapped bud, Ben glanced up to gauge Rey’s reactions and found her with her head thrown back, eyes closed while clutching his head to her chest. He quickened the flicks against her nipple, then switched to the other breast, this time suctioning his mouth around as much as he could and rolling his tongue over every area of flesh he could reach.</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s hips were undulating steadily now, her moans and whimpers never-ceasing. The hands in his hair tugged and it took him a minute to realize she was trying to get his attention. He pulled back and Rey slid from his lap. He watched, mesmerized, as she skimmed her hands from her neck and down her chest, over her breasts where she let her fingers slip over her spit-wet nipples before continuing on to the edge of her high-waist panties. She tucked her fingers under the band and began to push them down. Without thinking, Ben’s hands shot out and stopped her. Rey locked eyes with him, worrying her lip between her teeth as though unsure. Ben realized that she thought he wanted to stop and he sent her a loose smirk. He hooked his own fingers behind the lace.</p><p> </p><p>“May I?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>Rey let out the breath she had been holding, smiling widely, and nodded. Ben tugged at the lace, slowly, taking his time in rolling the panties down, down down and finally off. He slid his hands back up Rey’s legs, leaning closer to her with each inch of distance closed between his fingers and her mound. As soon as they reached the tops of her thighs, Ben moved his hands back around to her cheeks again and pulled her forward, using one of his own legs to force her feet apart. Though he had to bend down and tilt his head to the side to reach her even with her standing while he sat, he couldn’t waste another moment. He attached his lips to the top of her mons, seeking out the little pearl he knew was there and felt a flare of pride when he found it in seconds. Sucking lightly, he preened again when Rey squealed, legs shaking and hands reaching for his hair once more. Deciding that he had to have more, Ben pulled away and nudged Rey back until she was seated, then laying, on the coffee table behind her.</p><p> </p><p>Smirking with satisfaction, Ben slid closer. Rey opened her legs to him, resting her calves on his shoulders and Ben leaned down. Rey’s pleased sigh the moment his mouth was back on her made his cock jolt and he slipped from the chair to kneel on the floor before her. Ben dove into her pussy on a mission to make her lose her damned mind. Licking and sucking her juices down, the obscene slurping of his mouth on her only made him that much harder. Rey’s cries above him drove him on. He pushed her legs even further apart, giving himself room to add his fingers to the mix. He slid the pointer of his right hand between her lips and his mouth and pushed, groaning at the feel of her velvety walls contracting around the digit.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck, yes, Ben!” Rey shouted and Ben was grateful they were alone in the building.</p><p> </p><p>He pumped his finger a few times, moving his mouth up to her clit and laving it with his tongue. He pinched it between his lips at the same time that he added another finger and Rey jolted, her hips jumping and forcing his face into her pussy, smearing his chin and cheeks with her slick. Ben began to mutter all manner of curses and praise against her lips, still moving his fingers in and out, scissoring them and curling them against her walls. His other hand came up to palm over one breast, kneading the plump flesh and playing with the nipple. Ben let Rey’s hips continue to cant into his face, effectively riding his mouth from the bottom.</p><p> </p><p>“Keep, oh!” Rey moaned on a particularly hard thrust of his fingers and he took the chance to add one more. She moaned again. “Keep talking, against my clit, it feels, mmm…”</p><p> </p><p>Ben laughed against her but did as she asked, settling his lips on her clit and whispering praise to her, telling her how amazing she was, how good she tasted, how much he wanted to make her come. Occasionally, he let his tongue slip over the little bud and her thrusting hips would stutter before starting up even stronger than before. Ben could feel her stomach muscles clench under his arm and then her inner walls latched onto his fingers like a vice. In the next moment, she was screaming his name and he was drinking down her release, moaning against her quivering flesh.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey lay there, eyes closed, for several minutes while her orgasm continued to vibrate over and through her. She had never come so hard in her life and she wasn’t sure if there was a breath left in her body. She felt Ben move back and knew he was staring at her but she simply could not move. Still, she mustered enough energy to open her eyes. Expecting to see him smirking smugly at her for his incredible, insanely skilled mouth and fingers, she saw something else, something that had her heart racing once more.</p><p> </p><p>Ben was looking at her like she was the most amazing thing he had ever laid eyes on. Rey’s heart lurched at the look in his dark eyes. There was something there, something more than lust, that Rey both desperately wanted from him and was terrified of at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Terrified because she knew that what he wasn’t alone in what he was feeling.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured, leaning down to brush his lips over her own. “I feel it too,” he whispered as he leaned back.</p><p> </p><p>She took in a deep, shuddering breath then reached out and pulled him back down to her, taking his mouth with her own in an almost animalistic desperation. Ben moved closer, caging himself between her hips, his cock sliding deliciously over her wet mound.</p><p> </p><p>“Condom,” she gasped, breaking the kiss. Then she looked down. Holding him in her hand had been one thing but actually looking at him now, she worried. She flicked her eyes back to his. “Um, I brought one but…”</p><p> </p><p>He cocked an eyebrow at her and, somehow, that ratcheted her desire up to another level.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think it’s going to...fit…” she finished, looking back down at the monster between her legs.</p><p> </p><p>Ben somehow managed to look both bashful and proud and Rey had to kiss him again. She let him go a moment later because she desperately wanted him inside of her but the condom was going to be an issue.</p><p> </p><p>“Um..” Ben was flushed red and Rey adored how sweet he looked, “I mean, it’s been...a while. And I’m clean but…”</p><p> </p><p>Rey sucked in a breath.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve got an implant,” she said in a rush, “and I’m clean too. It’s...it’s also been a while for me.”</p><p> </p><p>They stared at one another. Then, moving at the same time, came in for another kiss. This one was softer, slower, sweeter than any other they had shared thus far and, still, it was somehow hotter and more arousing than any other as well. Rey felt it down to her very toes. She wrapped her arms around Ben’s shoulders, molding his body to hers. The head of his cock nudged against her entrance and she shuddered, canting her hips into him and letting the lips of her pussy slip over him. Ben groaned into her neck, the sucking kisses he was leaving there making her skin heat. Rey reached down, taking him in hand, and lined him up. Taking her cue for what it was, Ben pushed forward, breaching her and then stopped for a second to catch his breath. He met her eyes and, not looking away from her, slid slowly, achingly, all the way in.</p><p> </p><p>Rey clung to him, breathing deeply as he bottomed out and they lay there in each other’s arms while she adjusted to the stretch of his cock inside her. Twisting her hips as a test, Rey slid her legs up to lock one around his waist and the other kept moving until he curled his left arm around it and pushed it up further, opening her up to him and shifting his dick inside her until it brushed against the front of her walls in a way that had her keening.</p><p> </p><p>Then, he started to move.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Ben was sure that he had had sex before. He knew he had. Being inside of Rey, though, he knew without a doubt in his mind that the sex he had had before was a pathetic mimicry of what was happening now. Rey felt divine. Rey <em> was </em>divine and Ben never wanted to leave her embrace. Though his knees were starting to hurt against the rug beneath him and his back would be screaming at him later for bending the way he was, Ben was sure that he had never felt such blinding pleasure as being inside of Rey. He pumped into her, steady and strong but her mewling cries and the twitching movements of her own hips had him abandoning the rhythm he had started and soon he was pounding into her at a frantic pace. Rey was not a passive lover like he was used to and she pulled, kissed, licked, sucked and met him thrust for thrust until he felt his balls tightening alarmingly quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, sweetheart, I’m” Ben moaned against her mouth, trying to convey how dangerously close he was to coming. </p><p> </p><p>He shifted his right leg, bending it and setting more of his weight on his now flat foot, relieving some of the pressure on his knees. The movement did...something because Rey suddenly screamed his name, begging him between sobs to <em> ‘keep going, right there’ </em>. Ben complied and it didn’t take even five more strokes and then Rey was convulsing around his cock. The sucking, clamping walls of her pussy ripped his orgasm out of him but he never took his eyes off of Rey, wanting to see every moment, every ripple of her pleasure as it wracked her body. Unfortunately for him, his vision whited out and he collapsed on top of her, arms suddenly weak.</p><p> </p><p>When he came to, Rey was petting him, one hand on his back and the other in his hair. Her breathing was slowing and he nuzzled into her chest, placing chaste kisses along her breastbone. When he tried to pull away, sure he must be crushing her, Rey let out a low growl and held him to her. He chuckled against her skin.</p><p> </p><p>“We do need to move at some point, Rey,” he said, still mouthing over her chest.</p><p> </p><p>Rey hummed. Then she sighed and let go.</p><p> </p><p>“I suppose,” she said. Ben wanted to kiss the pout off of her lips but she spoke again. “Want to get breakfast?”</p><p> </p><p>Surprised, Ben glanced up at the clock on the fireplace mantel to his left. He looked back at Rey, eyebrows raised.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s barely nine o’clock,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>Rey flushed and gave him a saucy smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I meant in the morning, Ben,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>Ben felt his heart flip. He leaned down to kiss her, then murmured against her lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Sweetheart, I’ll cook you breakfast,” he promised.</p><p> </p><p>The look she bestowed on him at that cemented it for him. He was totally, completely, head-over-heels in love with this woman. He didn’t care that they still didn’t really know each other. Somehow, he just knew she was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.</p><p> </p><p>“Pancakes?” She asked, eyes alight. “And bacon?”</p><p> </p><p>Ben laughed and kissed her.</p><p> </p><p>“Anything you want, Rey,” he said, staring into her eyes, “Whatever you want.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s eyes drifted over his face. Her lips curled into a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever I want?” She asked, suddenly coy. </p><p> </p><p>The impish look in her eyes made Ben’s cock stir. He gulped.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” he answered hoarsely, hoping the look in her eyes meant what he thought it meant.</p><p> </p><p>Rey leaned up, brushing her mouth over his. Before he could truly sink into the kiss, she moved on, skimming her lips over his chin then up to his ear, biting it lightly. Ben groaned.</p><p> </p><p>“I want,” she whispered, “for you to take me home, your home, and for us to make an absolute filthy mess of your bed sheets.”</p><p> </p><p>The sound that left Ben’s throat was unlike any he had ever made before in his life. He turned and took her mouth roughly, reveling in the trembling moan that escaped her. He broke away, gaze boring into her.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go,” he said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And then, a year or two later,they got married, Rey got her garage, Ben retired to become a full-time writer, Leia got a house full of too-adorable grand-babies all suspiciously named after Renaissance men and Han found his son's TMNT collection and started crying when he realized Ben had kept the t-shirt all those years.</p><p>The End...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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